FAQ

In general, it is the owner of the building or the co-ownership management body that submits the request for aid for obtaining a sustainability certificate. 

A developer is therefore eligible for financial aid if, at the time of application, they are the owner of the building (or hold a share of the building). The establishment grant will no longer be available to future owners of lots for which the developer has already received financial aid. 

The amount of the establishment grant is as follows: 

• if the developer is a sole proprietor and if the “vertical land registry” (a descriptive statement on the division of the private lots and the common parts of a building under a co-ownership regime) has not yet been created: establishment grant of €1,500;
• if the developer is the sole owner and if the vertical land registry has been created: establishment grant of €750 per apartment/housing unit without exceeding the actual costs. 

A LENOZ certificate can be issued for all residential buildings with an energy passport, whether they are new or existing residential buildings. Issuance of the certificate is associated with Class 4 "minimum sustainability" (Chapter 0.2 of the Annex to the Grand Ducal Regulation on housing sustainability certification). Existing residential buildings can achieve this "minimum sustainability" by means of comprehensive retrofitting works.

An invoice with certificate of conformity and estimate/detailed explanation should be provided by each company involved in carrying out the work.

In order to simplify administrative matters, the certificates of conformity provided by the Environmental Administration can replace the detailed specifications/explanations and certificates of conformity of companies. The related invoices must be attached.

The certificates complementary to the Environmental Administration NCLD sheet can be downloaded here.

A sustainable dwelling for which planning permission is sought between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2022 can be subsidised under the Klimabonus scheme if it achieves at least 60% of the maximum number of points that can actually be achieved per category for 46 LENOZ criteria in three categories.

The following requirements apply for sustainability criteria 4.1.1 and 5.8.1:

- 4.1.1. Environmental assessment of building materials:

• a minimum of 24 out of 40 points must be achieved;
• a minimum of 21 out of 40 points must be achieved for buildings with at least three floors above the ground floor;

- 5.8.1 Assembly and dismantling capacity:

• 2017: a minimum of 6 out of 10 points must be achieved;
• 2018: a minimum of 8 out of 10 points must be achieved;
• 2019: 100% subsidy for a minimum of 10 out of 10 points; 80% of the total subsidy for a minimum of 8 out of 10 points.

(Technical details regarding the LENOZ 4.1 and 4.2 criteria) (Technical details regarding the LENOZ 5.8 criterion)

The deviations must be documented and the main contractor must be notified of them. The municipality has the right to request additional calculations and/or documentation. The "as built” EPC indicates whether the minimum requirements have been met despite the deviations once the building is completed. As with any non-compliance with the building permit, the municipality can demand that the construction work required to ensure compliance with the EPC be carried out during the construction period and call the police if necessary.

It is not mandatory to carry out inspections of building sites. However, the municipality has the right to go to the building site and check the construction work to check that it complies with the energy performance certificate.

The municipality has the right to request the "as built" EPC from the main contractor. Other measures may also be envisaged, for example the introduction of a deposit system. According to one Grand Ducal Regulation, municipalities even have the possibility of prosecuting the main contractor (sanctions enshrined in the Law of 5 August 1993 on the rational use of energy, as amended).

The municipality can itself decide on the consequences to be imposed on the main contractor/planner/construction company in the event of a breach of the legal requirements. In principle, a breach of these obligations can be treated in the same way as a breach of the distance rules or surface area coefficients.

It is mandatory to present the “as built” EPC for all new buildings, extensions and modifications to existing buildings. It must be presented within two months of the start of use or final acceptance of the building. The building must continue to meet the energy requirements.